1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic condenser and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a multilayer ceramic condenser having improved reliability by resisting residual stress, and a multilayer ceramic condenser manufactured thereby.
2. Description of the Related Art
A condenser, a device capable of storing electricity, stores electricity in each electrode by applying voltage to opposing electrodes. When DC voltage is applied to the condenser; however current flows in the condenser while electricity is stored therein, but when the storage of electricity is completed, current does not flow in the condenser. Meanwhile, when AC voltage is applied to the condenser, AC current continuously flows in the condenser while the polarity of the electrodes is alternated.
Depending on the type of an insulator provided between electrodes, the condenser may be classified as one of an aluminum electrolytic condenser, in which electrodes are made of aluminum and a thin oxide layer is provided between the aluminum electrodes, a tantalum electrolytic condenser using tantalum as an electrode material, a ceramic condenser using a high-K dielectric such as barium titanate between electrodes, a multi layer ceramic condenser (MLCC) using a multilayer structure made of a high-K ceramic as a dielectric provided between electrodes, a film condenser using a polystyrene film as a dielectric between electrodes, or the like.
Among these, the multilayer ceramic condenser may be miniaturized while having excellent heat resistance and frequency characteristics, such that it has been commonly used for various applications, such as a high frequency circuit, or the like.
In the multilayer ceramic condenser according to the related art, a laminate may be formed by stacking a plurality of dielectric sheets, external electrodes having different polarities may be formed on the outside of the laminate, and inner electrodes, alternately stacked within the laminate, may be electrically connected to respective outer electrodes.
The inner electrodes alternately formed between the dielectric sheets are opposed and paired with one another such that polarity exists therebetween to generate capacitance coupling, such that the multilayer ceramic condenser has a capacitance value.
Recently, as electronic products have become miniaturized and highly integrated, research into miniaturizing and highly integrating the multilayer ceramic condenser has been conducted. In particular, various attempts at thinning and highly stacking the dielectric layers in order to implement the high capacity and miniaturization of the multilayer ceramic condenser and optimizing a margin portion of a multilayer main body in order to secure an overlap area of an inner electrode have been conducted.